FEATURED ARTICLES ABOUT PHNOM PENH - PAGE 2

A temporary cease-fire in the long Cambodian conflict, agreed upon by all sides and supposed to begin on Wednesday, apparently lasted only a few hours before being broken by tank and artillery battles, Cambodian guerrilla leaders said Wednesday. The Cambodian opposition accused the Phnom Penh government of breaking the cease-fire agreement and attacking positions held by the coalition partners: the Communist Khmer Rouge, the followers of Prince Norodom Sihanouk and the Khmer People's National Liberation Front of Son Sann.

Troops allied to Cambodia's feuding co-premiers waged an hourlong battle near Phnom Penh's airport Saturday, pounding the countryside with mortar and rocket fire. After the battle, 12 miles west of the airport, First Prime Minister Prince Norodom Ranariddh's troops laid down their arms, and more than 140 were taken prisoner, supporters of Second Prime Minister Hun Sen said. The battle was the latest in several days of clashes between the rival premiers' heavily armed factions.

Cambodian police blocked Mia Farrow from holding a genocide memorial ceremony Sunday at a Khmer Rouge prison, at one point forcefully pushing her group away from a barricade. Farrow -- on a tour to call attention to the humanitarian crisis in Darfur and to pressure China, one of Sudan's major trading partners -- was prevented from entering the Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum in Phnom Penh. The Cambodian government, which has strong economic and political ties with China, accused the actress of having "a political agenda against China," rather than a humanitarian motive.

On April 17, 1492, Spain's King Ferdinand agreed to finance Christopher Columbus` voyage to the New World. In 1521 religious reformer Martin Luther was excommunicated from the Roman Catholic Church. In 1941 Yugoslavia surrendered to Germany in World War II. In 1961 CIA-trained Cuban exiles launched the unsuccessful Bay of Pigs invasion of Cuba in an attempt to overthrow Premier Fidel Castro. In 1969 Sirhan Sirhan was convicted of first-degree murder in the assassination of Sen. Robert Kennedy.

Several thousand Vietnamese troops and military advisers returned to Cambodia in October at Phnom Penh's request and are now helping to defend two strategic cities in northwest Cambodia from attack by Khmer Rouge guerrillas, according to two senior Eastern European diplomats. Cambodian and Vietnamese officials deny that there are Vietnamese troops in Cambodia or that any returned after their much-publicized withdrawal at the end of September. China, the Khmer Rouge and the Cambodian opposition units allied with the Khmer Rouge regularly charge that thousands of Vietnamese troops never left.

UN Secretary-Gen. Boutros Boutros-Ghali on Sunday visited with refugees returning to western Cambodia and said he is optimistic about the huge repatriation plan. "Everything is excellent. They (UN staff) have done wonderful work. I was optimistic when I arrived. I`m more optimistic now," he said after flying back to Phnom Penh from Battambang city. The repatriation of 370,000 refugees who fled the wars for camps in Thailand is a key component of the peace accord signed in October by the Phnom Penh government and its guerrilla rivals.

Cambodia's Khmer Rouge made its first public apology on Tuesday for the "killing fields" reign of terror in the 1970s in which about 1.7 million people died. Human rights organizations and Phnom Penh citizens were unimpressed and said the government should stick to past vows to put defecting Khmer Rouge leaders Khieu Samphan and Nuon Chea on trial for genocide and crimes against humanity. Asked at a news conference if he was sorry for the suffering wrought by an ultra-leftist agrarian revolution, former Khmer Rouge head of state Khieu Samphan looked straight at the questioner and answered in English: "Yes, sorry, very sorry."

Fighting flared Sunday in northern Cambodia, and civilians were preparing to flee to neighboring Thailand a day after government strongman Hun Sen rejected regional efforts to mediate in Cambodia's crisis. Ousted Prince Norodom Ranariddh arrived in Singapore for talks with Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong after warning that Hun Sen's rejection of southeast Asian mediation would bring about isolation, an end to democracy and a return to war. Hun Sen ousted Ranariddh on July 5 after two days of battles in the capital.

PHNOM PENH, Sept 4 (Reuters) - Cambodia will deport a Swedish co-founder of Pirate Bay, one of the world's biggest free file-sharing websites, who was convicted and sentenced to prison in Sweden for breaching copyright laws, a police official said on Tuesday. Gottfrid Svartholm Warg, 27, has been living in the Cambodian capital, Phnom Penh, a nd was arrested last week after a request from Sweden, but he may not necessarily be sent back home directly. "We will deport him based on our immigration law," police spokesman Kirth Chantharith said, adding the decision was reached after talks between Cambodian and Swedish officials.

For the first time in nearly a year, Cambodian and United Nations officials met Monday in a bid to restart talks on creating a tribunal for Khmer Rouge leaders accused of genocide and crimes against humanity. "We came very far. It's enough to demonstrate our goodwill," said Sok An, a confidant of Prime Minister Hun Sen, during a break in the talks in New York. "We have . . . optimism." Secretary General Kofi Annan invited Cambodian negotiators to the UN to prepare for detailed talks in Phnom Penh.